Mat Rempit is one of Malaysia’s biggest assets

More than 2,000 Mat Rempits (bikers) roared in approval when Putera Umno chairman Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim declared them to be one of the nation’s “biggest assets.”

Mat Rempits our assests, says Putera Umno head

Read : Police saves worker from Mat Rempit

MP’s immunity should not be abused

Abdullah said MPs had the freedom to speak in Parliament but they
should use this privilege to discuss issues concerning the country�s
current affairs as well as future plans.

“Voicing their thoughts and concerns on various aspects,
especially on development plans… now that is allowed, that is
freedom.”

But there were limits to what could and could not be spoken, especially when the subject matter concerned sensitive issues.

Abdullah said the people had high hopes on how MPs carried themselves and performed their duties in Parliament.

“They want their MPs to speak facts and deliver quality debate
aimed at building the nation,” he said after the renaming ceremony of
the Paroi People�s Housing Project here yesterday.

Meanwhile in Putrajaya, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak
said that MPs, though covered by Parliamentary privilege, should not
put down government agencies.

Reacting to the Customs-MPs brouhaha in Parliament, the Barisan
Nasional Chief Whip told MPs to conduct sessions “in a decorous
manner”.

“Flaws can be pointed out, but do it ethically in Parliament… I would
like to see things done in a way that they don�t appear to be
belittling government departments… although they have a right to air
their grievances… It is the manner of presenting it.”

Source: New Straits Times

Read: MP assert they are serving and speaking for the people

MP assert they are serving and speaking for the people

BARISAN Nasional backbenchers at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday delivered a
stern message to potential critics: That they had little time for those
who took them on in public or who questioned their immunity from
prosecution.

Anyone who crossed them would be savaged in the House. And this is
what happened as they attacked the Customs and Excise Department like
never before and took subtle digs at the Chief Secretary to the
Government.

They attacked the top brass in the Customs for going public over a
threatening SMS sent by Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (Jasin MP) to the Customs
preventive director Adnan Ariffin. This text message is only the latest
point of contention between the MP and the Customs.

The backbenchers also took aim at Tan Sri Samsudin Osman for saying
that he planned to meet the Attorney-General to discuss their immunity,
following the threatening SMS.

Leading the charge yesterday was Mohd Said.

“Why question our rights? We are here to serve the people. We are
speaking for the people,” said Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin
(BN-Kinabatangan). He did not mention Samsudin but everyone knew who he
was referring to.

Source: New Straits Times

Read: Jasin MP’s record,

PM’s thoughts about what MP should discuss in Parliament

Hishammuddin blasts MCA

“Do not challenge us.”

Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein issued this warning as
he lambasted the MCA Youth for calling on his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin
to apologise for his remarks that Barisan Nasional component parties
would take advantage of a weak Umno.

Source: The New Straits Times

Good reason to review 1998 judicial sackings

“It’s for the truth … the whole plain truth to come out, that is
the main reason the case should be reviewed,” said Bar Council
vice-chairman Ambiga Srinivasan in response to Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz’s demand for
one good reason to review the 1988 judicial sackings.

She said that it has been 18 years since the “the executive made the
assault on the judiciary and the wait should not be prolonged to
correct the wrong”.

She suggested that a Royal Commission be set up to review the
sacking of former Lord President Tun Mohamed Salleh Abas and the two
Supreme Court judges Datuk George Seah and the late Tan Sri Wan
Suleiman Pawanteh.

“Unless this is done, the public will always have a perception that
the executive controls the judiciary and the 1988 judicial sackings by
the Tribunal were biased,” explained Ambiga.

Source:The Sun

Read: Nazri says no good reason to review 1988 judicial sackings

Was PJ billboard monopoly merely a proposal?

While negotiating the aborted controversial billboard privatisation
deal with Seni Jaya Sdn Bhd, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) was
doing the same deal simultaneously with two other companies- and
collected RM450,000 upfront.

Documents made available to theSun show that council officials were
double dealing with a joint proposal from PE Capital and Kurnia Outdoor
with a view to granting similar “exclusive rights” in Petaling Jaya.

This deal was connected to a RM1.7 million (since revised to RM2
million) donation to the MPPJ Football Club. Two cheques (as advance
payment)- one for RM300,000 and another for RM150,000 were received by
club officials.

This puts paid to claims by then mayor Datuk Ahmad Termizi Puteh
that the move to privatise the outdoor billboard business was “merely a
proposal”.

Source:The Sun

Read:

Sultan tells MBPJ off

MBPJ Football Club is not open for public scrutiny

Khir distances from MBPJ

Mohd Said says the SMS was ‘friendly’

“Why is a friendly SMS that I sent in May being
raised now? He is my friend of more than 10 years and we regularly
exchange SMS. It was not a threat at all. If it was a threat, why did I
start it off with Assalamualaikum (Peace be upon you)? 

Mohd Said recalled that Customs officials were in Parliament in May to discuss Customs’ operations with MPs. 

“We agreed. But soon after, my staff in Malacca told me that Customs
officers were snooping around my office trying to find fault with me.  

“That was when I sent him the SMS and informed him that he agreed to
discuss, but if Rumainor (Malacca Customs enforcement chief Rumainor
Sarif) was trying to find fault with my company I would continue to
raise Custom-related issues,” he said. 

Source : The Star

Read: The Mohd Said’s friendly SMS

Was the UPM inquiry independent and fair ?

A group of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students that was mobbed and
threatened by student council members say the inquiry conducted by the
university was unfair and want a “genuinely independent investigation”.

In a press conference today (Aug 24, 2006), SPF external coordinator
Teh Yee Keong said the inquiry panel’s line of questioning did not
address the 30 student body members’ “thuggish behaviour” during the
July 17, 2006, incident, but instead insinuated the SPF was the cause
of it.

Teh said the SPF students were asked, “Why were you chased away by
the other students?”, “Why didn’t the other students like you?”and “Did
they chase you away because you were not registered?”

UPM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah on Aug 18,
2006, said the students would be let off with advice and counselling,
adding that the video was “subject to interpretation” and the hecklers
were not shouting and jeering but “singing and cheering”.

He said the SPF had opened its help counter without UPM’s permission
and this caused dissatisfaction among other students that led to the
incident.

Teh said UPM’s decision sends out a message that certain students can
be bullies and violent towards others without any repercussions.

Chew said when she described the mob’s shouting, taunting, advancing
and manhandling as “violent”, Abdul Rahman declared that that was “not
violent”, but “rough”.

“He also asked me why I took pictures with my camera and proceeded
to ask how I would feel if someone else took my picture,” she said.

Chew said Abdul Rahman also asked her what her intentions were.

Teh said the group wanted the inquiry panel’s findings to be made public, a suggestion UPM opposes.

Malaysian Undergraduates Solidarity president Mohd Rifaudin Abd Wahab,
who was also at the press conference, said the inquiry panel should
rightfully comprise academics with legal and investigative skills from
other campuses.

Source:The Sun

Read also : Gangsterism in UPM

A bail-out or not?

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng says the government’s decision to
take over as organiser of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) and the Youth
and Sports Ministry’s decision to settle the organiser’s outstanding
debt of RM3.5 million is an irresponsible act.

“It’s another bailout … against national interest, wasting
millions in taxpayers’ money with no action against the failed
organiser and sports officials,” he added.

Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said had announced in Parliament on
Aug 22, 2006, that the total cost to be borne by the government to take
over as organiser of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) is RM3,458,844.35 and this is not to bail
out First Cartel Sdn Bhd.

Her Ministry had agreed to settle an outstanding debt of
RM2,307,909.09 claimed by International Cycling Union (UCI), that is,
RM1,056,238.25 owed to the cycling related creditors and RM1,251,670.84
to TV-related creditors while the Tourism Ministry would fork out
RM1,150,935.26 to settle outstanding debts on hotel bills.

Lim asked: “Is the government so rich that it cannot find better use
for RM3.5 million than to bailout a failed cycling event that provides
minimal value for improvement of Malaysian sports?

“If paying the RM 3.5 million bills owed by the failed organiser,
including hotel bills, is not a bailout then how does the government
define a bailout?”

Lim said the government and Azalina are in a state of complete
denial that the LTdL has failed and the government is undertaking a
massive bailout to keep it afloat.

“Worse, no action is taken against those responsible for this
failure that has tarnished the international reputation and sporting
image of the country and Malaysian sports in general.

“Azalina must not forget that unlike the F1 Race, the LTdL does not attract top-class cyclists,” he added.

Source:The Sun

Nazri says no good reason to review 1988 judicial sackings

Give me one good reason why there should be a review of the 1988 judicial sackings.

This was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri
Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz response when asked if there would be any
change in the government’s stand on the issue.

“I don’t want to sound unreasonable but there must be finality. The people must have confidence in the judiciary.

“Even the Cabinet did not discuss this issue,” he added, saying that
Salleh was making the statements as he was an affected party.

When told that the call was from many quarters, Nazri said:

“I know who these few people are. I am an MP and represent the views of more people, they can’t claim to represent the majority.

“Give me a good reason why it should be reopened. It is a non-starter,” he added.

Source:The Sun